versión impresa ISSN 0185-1659

Resumen

In this article I want to answer three questions: why psychoanalysis is extremely popular in Argentina, why it is the main psychological therapy, and why psychoanalytical ideas are taken for granted. As with most expert knowledge, psychoanalysis is thought of by followers as a theory and clinical practice with universal reach, immune to the effects that the specific characteristics of national, regional or urban environments can cause. Against these wishes, the types of knowledge defined as "expert" -like psychoanalysis- are, above all, social practices rooted in cultural traditions and networks of meanings, placed, interpreted and appropriated in singular contexts. For that reason, psychoanalysis is a plural, historical and contextual phenomenon; it does not exist only as institutions, theories, therapeutic practices or learning systems, but as a way of acting and thinking, which affect to social identities and lifestyles. In other words: institutions, theories, therapies or professional training are related to everyday life. I suggest researching how psychoanalysis in Argentina has become a practical knowledge, that is to say, common sense. If psychoanalysis works as a secular theodicy, we need to show how that theodicy has become acceptable and reasonable for a lot of argentinean people.